NFPA Offers Grilling Safety Tips
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), a member and audited designator of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), has published a series of grilling safety tips just in time for summer barbeques.
Tips for both gas and charcoal grills are offered, including: keep children and pets away from grills; use long-handled grilling tools to offer protection from heat and flames; leave the area and call the fire department if you smell gas while grilling; and never use gasoline or other flammable liquids to get fires started.
To learn more, see the NFPA news release.
ASSE Publishes Free Webcast with OSHA Representative on Safety Incentives
The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), an ANSI member and accredited standards developer, has published a free hour-long webinar featuring the Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA David Michaels, Ph.D., on the issue of safety incentives.
The free webcast conversation with the new assistant secretary is titled A Conversation with Assistant Secretary for OSHA Dr. David Michaels - What to Do About Safety Incentives?. It was originally aired on May 12 to over 1,500 registered listeners. In the recording, Dr. Michaels discusses how to determine the difference between appropriate and inappropriate safety incentives in the workplace and how to address inappropriate incentives.
For more information, see the ASSE news release.
NIST Seeks Comments on Updated Guide for Assessing Federal IT Security Controls
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued the final draft of Special Publication 800-53A, Revision 1, Guide for Assessing Security Controls in Federal Information Systems and Organizations, and is now seeking public comments.
The publication provides guidelines for developing security assessment plans and associated security control assessment procedures that are consistent with the recently revised foundational Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) publication, NIST Special Publication 800-53, Revision 3. All stakeholders are encouraged to read the draft and submit comments to [email protected] by June 4, 2010.
For more information and to access the draft, see the NIST release.
CSPC to Begin Issuing Import Detention Notices
As detailed in a news item by the Toy Industry Association (TIA), an ANSI member and accredited standards developer, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) now has the authority to issue safety-related detention notices directly to importers, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The CSPC will assume this task, which was previously held by the CBP, in order to facilitate and improve the import entry process.
For more information, see the TIA news release.
AOCS to Broadcast Annual Business Meeting with Free Webcast
The American Oil Chemists Society (AOCS), an ANSI member and accredited standards developer, will broadcast its annual business meeting and keynote address over a free webcast for all interested stakeholders.
The webcast will be held on Tuesday, May 18, at 11:15 a.m. EST.
For more information, click here.
ASTD Study Shows Educational Value of Social Media
A new study conducted by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), an ANSI member, finds that workers in the United States believe that social media tools have an important role to play in workplace learning and development.
The report, The Rise of Social Media: Enhancing Collaboration and Productivity across Generations analyzes opinions on social media, as well as the ways that social media is being used by companies. Results indicate that many companies could increase social media use to their advantage.
For more information, see the ASTD press release.